Leftist ‘ AMLO’ wins big in Mexico prez polls
In nation’s 1st, leader wins more than half the vote in competitive polls
Anti- establishment leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador swept to victory in Mexico’s presidential election Sunday, in a political sea change driven by voters’ anger over endemic corruption and brutal violence.
The sharp- tongued, silverhaired politician known as “AMLO” won 53 per cent of the vote, according to an official projection of the results.
It is the first time in Mexico’s modern history a candidate has won more than half the vote in a competitive elections, and a resounding rejection of the two parties that have governed the country for nearly a century.
“This is a historic day, and it will be a memorable night,” Mr Lopez Obrador said in a victory speech in Mexico City’s Alameda Park, as thousands of ecstatic supporters flooded the capital’s central district, chanting “Yes we did!” and partying to mariachi music.
Mr Lopez Obrador, 64, sought to downplay fears of radicalism, after critics branded him a “tropical Messiah” who would install Venezuela- style policies that could wreck Latin America’s secondlargest economy.
“Our new national project seeks an authentic democracy. We are not looking to construct a dictatorship, either open or hidden,” he told cheering supporters, promising to safeguard freedoms, respect the private sector and work to reconcile a divided nation.
He also vowed to pursue a relationship of “friendship and cooperation” with the US, Mexico’s key trading partner — a change in tone from some comments during the campaign, when he said he would put US President Donald Trump “in his place.”
Mr Trump, whose antitrade, anti- immigration policies have infuriated Mexico, appeared ready to start off on the right foot.
Mexico City, July 2: For the past 12 years, Mexico has fought violent drug gangs by deploying thousands of police, soldiers and intelligence officers to crack down on cartels and their leaders.
If its new Presidentelect gets his way, however, negotiation may replace the hard- line strategy that critics say has only perpetuated violence.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, a leftist who won on Sunday after two previous attempts at the presidency, wants to rewrite the rules of the drug war, aides said, suggesting negotiated peace and amnesties for some of the very people currently being targeted by security forces.
“The failed strategy of combating insecurity and violence will change,” Lopez Obrador said in his victory speech Sunday night, repeating his call to address the socioeconomic ills that push people toward the drug trade and other crimes.
“More than through the use of force, we will tend to the causes that give rise to insecurity and violence,” the president- elect added. He said his team will immediately begin consulting with human rights groups, religious leaders and the United Nations to develop a “plan for reconciliation and peace.”
So far, his proposals remain vague. And any move toward amnesty, while aimed at lesser and non- violent offenders, is sure to face opposition from the general public, rivals in Congress and U. S. allies who helped Mexico orchestrate its force- based approach.
Still, Olga Sanchez, Lopez Obrador’s proposed interior minister, said the new administration would move fast to reconsider drug policies and a militaristic approach that, despite toppling some high- profile kingpins, failed to prevent more than 200,000 murders since first adopted in 2006.